Gilberto Monroig

Gilberto Monroig Jiménez (born July 2, 1930 in Santurce, Puerto Rico - died May 3, 1996, in Santurce, Puerto Rico).

Biography

Of peasant parents, he grew up listening to bomba and plena, typical music from Puerto Rico, also listening to Carlos Gardel's tangos.

As a young man he loved to sing, imitating Gardel, his music took another direction when his father gave him a guitar. At the age of 14, he was part of a band called Conjunto Maravilla . Later, he joined a group of college students as a singer and guitarist. This band played at the "King Club" in the Old San Juan Marina.

After a while he was part of another band that played at the "China Doll Club" in Santurce, Puerto Rico. This "club" It was a better opportunity for him, admired by music lovers, this represented a great step for Gilberto in his professional career. He was only 15 years old when his contract ended at this & # 34;club & # 34; and he decides to move to Mayagüez, to be part of the William Manzano Orchestra on the WPRA radio station. He stayed here for only six months, until the Rafael Elvira's Super Tropicana Orchestra was looking for a singer and hired Monroig.

This orchestra was another giant step for Gilberto in his musical career. He traveled all over the island playing and singing at special events and dances. In 1947 he recorded his first RPM album with the Super Tropicana Orchestra. The band played regularly at the Hotel Condado, but this band dispersed to just a quintet, leaving Gilberto as lead singer. Shortly after, he received an invitation to sing in the Pete Rivera Orchestra at the inauguration of the Caribe Hilton Hotel in 1948.

After spending some time playing at the Caribe Hilton Hotel, Gilberto moved to New York City in 1950, where he offered to sing with the Orquesta de Armando Castro, in a prestigious ballroom known as the "Escambron Beach Club". Soon after, he began singing in other parts of New York City, quickly gaining recognition and fans in the Hispanic community. He had the opportunity to sing in hotels in the Dominican Republic and Curaçao.

In 1951 he was part of the José Curbelo orchestra, months later he returned to New York and the legendary King of the Timbales, Tito Puente, who was looking for a singer for his orchestra, offered him Gilberto the opportunity to sing, replacing the Cuban bolero singer and guarachero Vicentico Valdés. With this orchestra Gilberto sang at the "Palladium" in "Birdland" and in the "Apollo". Monroig sang for two years with Puente and recorded several albums. While this was becoming a successful experience for him, he left Puente's band in 1955 to escape frequent travel and returned to Puerto Rico to continue his solo career.

The quality of his romantic voice brought Gilberto great success. He recorded more than 40 singles and 30 LPs, including songs by Pedro Flores and another by Rafael Hernández. He won a Gold Record in 1959 with his rendition of the song "Egoísmo"; by the Dominican Moisés Zoaín and another Gold Record in 1964 with "Simplemente una ilusión" by Hector Urdaneta. Gilberto was known in many cities in the United States and Latin America, despite the fact that he did not like to travel. Gilberto dies on May 3, 1996, in Santurce, Puerto Rico. He was buried in the Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery in Old San Juan.